Pages

10.22.2010

A little 'doggle, do ya.

Last weekend Alex and Matt decided to make it an extended weekend and head down to Louisville for a polo tourney, the Bluegrass Boondoggle. From all reports it was a great weekend, minus a minor hiccup, it was another great tournament in the books.

The first photo used today is from Bruce Carver, check out more of his photos from the day here. We were pleased to be part of this tournament as a sponsor, hooking up the winner of a little drinking competition with a Chukker wheelset and from all accounts was a disgustingly epic performance. Below is part of the post by Jimmy over at the Louisville Hardcourt Bike Polo blog on the weekend. It seemed to do the weekend justice, to check out the whole post click on the link below. Enjoy:

Well, we did it. We took a pretty big punch from the parks department, only to be followed by the police kicking us while we were down. Regardless, we got back up and finished with a bang. We really can’t thank Zach from Bloomington enough for all his help Saturday, don’t think we could have done it without him. Hell, none of us could even figure out how to draw a straight line, let alone construct a double elimination bracket without his expert help.

The parks department has decided bicycles just do far too much damage to tennis courts that see minimal to zero use. We had been in talks regarding the use of tennis courts for polo for months and actually had an okay, that is until we decided invite 50 or so of our closest polo friends in town for a little competition. Just as a general clarification, NONE of the issues were the result of ‘Bicycling for Louisville’s’ actions, despite our initial suspicions. We apologize for any harsh words at the onset of the debacle that was the start of the tournament, the Metro government just did what it does best – nothing. Somehow we were booked as a ‘Tennis Tournament’ because someone along the chain of paperwork in the Metro offices decided ‘Bike Polo’ must have been a joke.

At any rate, let’s talk about the fun parts of yesterday….

To start the day off we had 16 teams registered from 6 states (I think) and maybe 8 (?) cities. Not too bad for our first try. I think Michael, Zach (Louisville) and I played some of the worst polo of our lives through out the day. Maybe it was all the beer, perhaps the stress of the days events or possibly just an off day, regardless we sucked. Michael’s bike exploded midway through the first game and a special thank you goes out to Brian “the Commish” Turner for lending a hand and a bike for the remainder of the game. Our second round was the fastest I think we’ve seen 5 points get scored in the garage. All of the teams in attendance were stellar, but most importantly everyone had a great time and there was surely some nice polo played. Every different locale that was represented did their homes proud and we all feel like our polo community has become quite a bit larger with a lot of new friends from across the country.

We only got a few games in before being totally shut down by Metro Parks and threatened with police if we stayed. A quick tear down of the courts, an hour lunch break and everyone met up at the garage to finish out the day. There was an impromptu ‘Critical Mass’ that took a majority of the players and spectators from the park to the garage that provided a welcome breather. We loaded Michael’s truck down with the boards, goals and prizes and sped off to relocate the entire tournament in less than an hour.

The garage was a three story building in Downtown Louisville where Louisville Polo has played for almost 3 years in the summer, winter, rain, snow or whenever because we’ve gotten kicked out of everywhere else. It’s right across the street from and provides a good view for the seediest strip clubs in town as well. We set up games on the first floor easy enough but our next obstacle ended up being a car parked up stairs on the third floor “court”. Thanks to Michael’s quick thinking, somewhere around 8-10 dudes picked up the rear end of the impeding Impala and swung it out of the way. The place was packed and the initial disappointment was lost pretty quickly with everyone really getting into the party.

Heading towards the finals Lexington was knocked out in the semi’s by CoMo while from what I remember Bloomington was there going down to St. Louis, leaving an all Missouri final… bastards. Just as we were announcing our special joust rules and about to hand out some bourbon in rolled the police shutting us down mere seconds from the start of our last game.

“Who’s in charge here?”

“It’s kind of a community thing.”

“… You’ve got 5 minutes to clear out or you’re all going to jail.”

According to Bruce we were out in a little over 3 minutes. All the boards along the wall, all the bikes, all the trash, everyone – down the ramp and rolling in less no time. With out hesitation everyone headed back to the park, the most appropriate venue we could think of.

A scramble back to Shelby Park and quick board setup as the light was fading. By the time we yelled polo you could barely see the damn ball from the sidelines. By the end, you couldn’t see the players. Neither team was about to give up and St. Louis came out victorious at the end of a pitch black final.

With the Final done, we were off to the Mag Bar for the after party of all after party’s. Awards were handed out as well as pretty much anything else that wasn’t bolted down. If you left Louisville empty handed you have no one to blame but yourself. If nothing else, it was a damn memorable tournament.

First we really have to say thanks to all the players and spectators for their patience and flexibility through out the day. Obviously it wouldn’t have happened without you.